


Trick or Treat

by toomanyunfinishedfics



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Also small mentions of Hanamura bros because I love big bro Yosuke, Gen, Just a fic where Souyo+Nanako & Teddie go trick or treating, M/M, Pumpkin Spice and Everything Souyo 2020, Trick or Treating, With some tiny hints of mutual pining because I love pre-relationship Souyo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toomanyunfinishedfics/pseuds/toomanyunfinishedfics
Summary: Yosuke finds out that Souji has never properly celebrated Halloween before. This means that he, as Souji’s partner, has to immediately rectify this--with a little help from Nanako and Teddie, of course.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 12
Kudos: 82





	Trick or Treat

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween! <3 This was written for [Pumpkin Spice and Everything Souyo 2020](https://souyoweek2020.tumblr.com/post/632428325659443200/pumpkin-spice-and-everything-souyo-2020)! I didn’t really have the time to write anything longer or more complex, but hopefully this fluffy little fic will be a good enough contribution nonetheless ;u; (Also yes I know in-game Souji & Yosuke have to take down the decorations at Junes after putting them up and Nanako gets sick on Halloween night, but let’s just pretend that doesn’t happen lol)

It started off innocently enough: with a conversation about Nanako, as Souji and Yosuke decorated Junes for Halloween.

“She wants to go trick or treating,” Souji said, as he hung up some little ghost decorations. “She has a costume and everything--a Loveline one, I think?--but with the culprit still out there….”

Yosuke rolled his eyes, setting down the pumpkin decorations in his hands so he could turn to face his partner.

“Souji, I get being protective, but it’s  _ Halloween _ . Are you really going to deprive a kid of trick or treating on  _ Halloween? _ ” When Souji gave no response, he added, “Besides, you’re going to be with her the whole time, right? No one will be able to do anything to Nanako-chan with you around.”

“I guess…,” Souji murmured, clearly still hesitant. “I know she’s looking forward to it, and I wouldn’t want to--”

When Souji abruptly cut himself off, Yosuke’s brows furrowed in a mixture of confusion and curiosity. It was rare for Souji to second-guess himself enough to stop talking, especially when it was just the two of them, and it wasn’t like they were talking about anything all that serious, so why…?

“Wouldn’t want to what?” Yosuke asked, getting straight to the point.

Souji seemed the slightest bit ashamed as he turned his attention back to hanging up decorations, and a second or two before Yosuke opened his mouth to repeat his question, Souji finally replied, “She’s lost so much of her childhood already, because my uncle wasn’t around to let her be a kid, and… I know what that’s like. I wouldn’t want to deprive her of an experience that all kids should have, even if I’m worried for her safety.”

Yosuke frowned, immediately catching onto the unspoken implication. “Your parents never took you trick or treating?”

Souji shrugged weakly, refusing to meet Yosuke’s gaze. “They thought it was a waste of time and money when I was younger, and when I got older they were never around. I didn’t have any friends, and I didn’t see much point in trying to go on my own, so I just… never did. It’s not a big deal.”

“Wh-- dude, it’s a  _ huge _ deal! Your parents are jerks; like you said, they deprived you of an experience that all kids should have! I mean, even my workaholic parents took a night off on Halloween to take me trick or treating when I was little.” Before Souji could so much as begin to formulate a response, Yosuke suddenly smiled with a glint in his eyes. “Y’know, if you’re taking Nanako-chan out tonight, why don’t you just get dressed up too? You’re never too old to go trick or treating, right?”

Souji blinked, completely caught off-guard by the suggestion. “What? Yosuke, I don’t even have a costume--”

“You can leave that to me, partner,” Yosuke immediately replied, shooting Souji a wink as he added, “I  _ just so happen _ to know a place that sells Halloween costumes, and I even happen to know someone who could get one for you at a discount.”

“ _ Yosuke _ \--” Souji weakly protested, but to no avail--now that the idea was in Yosuke’s head, there was no talking him out of it.

“Dude, it’s really not a big deal. Ted wanted to see what Halloween was all about anyway, so the four of us can go together--I’m sure Nanako-chan would love that,” Yosuke added slyly, knowing fully well that if there was one person in the world Souji would do anything for, it was Nanako.

Sure enough, Souji finally relented with a drawn-out sigh, the slightest hint of an embarrassed blush coloring his cheeks as he half asked, half pleaded, “You’ll be dressing up too, right?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t make my partner wear a costume and not wear one myself,” Yosuke replied, before dryly adding, “Though somehow I have a feeling I won’t be getting much from the locals, even if I do dress up.”

The slight tension drained from Souji’s frame as a small smile worked its way onto his face. “Well, if you’re going to be wearing something too, then… I guess it wouldn’t hurt--and I'm sure you will, but even if you don't, you know I’ll always share anything I get with you. What’s mine is yours, partner.”

Yosuke blushed and rolled his eyes, trying to nonchalantly play off his embarrassment as he waved a hand flippantly and turned his attention back over to the rest of the decorations that he had to set up.

“You don’t have to, seriously. I’m doing this to keep you guys company, not to get candy.”

Souji chuckled and returned to hanging up ornaments--though he wasn’t quite distracted enough to miss the quiet murmur that followed.

“But… thanks, partner.”

With that, Yosuke scurried off towards another area of the store, leaving Souji to continue his half of the work with a soft, amused smile on his face and the thought of an interesting--and maybe even fun--night to look forward to.

* * *

“You’re gonna go trick or treating with me, Big Bro?! Really?!”

If Souji had any willpower (or desire) left to turn down Yosuke’s idea, it would have completely fizzled away the second he saw Nanako’s bright-eyed, overjoyed gaze staring up at him.

Of course, he knew that Yosuke knew this. He knew that  _ Yosuke _ knew that he knew this. That was most likely the reason why Yosuke had come by the Dojima household after they finished setting up the Halloween decorations at Junes, and had delivered the good news to Nanako before Souji could so much as open his mouth.

Yosuke grinned, clearly seeing that Nanako had won Souji over (as always), and gave Nanako a playful wink as he said, “Yep, your Big Bro’s gonna dress up and everything. Ted and I are gonna swing by later, so we can all walk around together.”

“Teddie and Yosuke-nii too?” Nanako beamed up at Souji and Yosuke, bouncing lightly as she clapped her hands in excitement. “This is gonna be the best Halloween  _ ever! _ ”

Well, now that Nanako said that, Souji  _ had to _ make sure that nothing went wrong tonight. Nanako wanted the best Halloween ever, so Souji would make sure to give her the best Halloween ever.

(He could distantly remember a time when he was around her age, bright-eyed and excited to celebrate just like all the rest of the kids in his class, only for his parents to reprimand him and remind him that he should be studying instead of wasting his time with silly games. He would never,  _ ever _ do anything to drain away that pure, innocent joy from Nanako the way his parents did to him.)

Yosuke ruffled Nanako’s hair, before turning his grin over to Souji as he gave his shoulder a pat and gestured teasingly to the Junes bag in Souji’s loose grip.

“Better start getting dressed,  _ Big Bro _ . I’m gonna go help Ted figure out a costume, and we’ll try and make it back here in about an hour or so.”

Souji let out a sigh and shot Yosuke a flat look, though he couldn’t quite hide the way the corners of his lips twitched ever so slightly in repressed amusement.

Sometimes, Souji found himself wondering if Yosuke realized that Nanako wasn’t the only person he couldn’t say no to. Not that he could help being weak to his partner’s smile, nor could he find any fault with him when he knew Yosuke’s intentions were good.

Plus, Yosuke was willing to endure walking through the shopping district just to make sure that Souji, Nanako, and Teddie all got to properly experience a fun Halloween night. That alone meant the world to Souji, regardless of how pushy he’d been about it.

“Alright. We’ll see you later, then,” Souji replied, walking Yosuke back to the front door with Nanako trailing behind them.

Yosuke put on his shoes and waved to the two cousins over his shoulder as he jogged out of the house, so he could rush home and get both himself and Teddie ready. “Later, partner! Bye Nanako-chan!”

“Byebye Yosuke-nii! See you later!” Nanako replied, waving enthusiastically to Yosuke as she and Souji watched him go, before she turned her bright smile up to Souji. “Big Bro, let’s get dressed too! What are you gonna be?”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Souji replied with a soft chuckle as he closed and locked the door, before heading inside and setting the bag in his hand down on the table. “Yosuke picked it out for me, so I didn’t have a chance to look at it yet.”

“Ooh, it’s a surprise? I love surprises!” Nanako rushed ahead of him to go peek in the bag, giggling as she pulled out a hat and a cape. “This looks fun! Are you gonna be a magician?”

Souji hummed in thought as he pulled out the rest of the costume, examining it curiously. “I…  _ think _ it’s supposed to be a vampire? But it could be a magician, too.”

“Then it must be… a vampire magician!” Nanako declared.

Souji nodded solemnly, the corners of his lips curved upward in the slightest hint of a smile. “You’re absolutely right. Excellent work, detective Loveline.”

Nanako giggled as Souji gave her a pat on the head. “There’s no case too tough for magical detective Loveline to crack!”

Souji nodded once more in agreement, giving Nanako’s head another light pat before gently beginning to guide her towards her bedroom. “Loveline needs to put on her special outfit before Yosuke and Teddie show up,” he reminded her. “Do you need any help?”

“Nuh-uh! I can put it on all by myself!” Nanako replied proudly.

“Alright, then you do that, and I’ll get changed in the meantime. Just call for me if you need any help, okay?”

“Okay~!”

With that, Nanako excitedly bounced off into her bedroom and closed the door, allowing Souji a moment to himself to go back inside and gather up the costume that Yosuke had chosen for him.

It felt a bit silly, and a part of him felt self-conscious and embarrassed as he went into his bedroom and began changing into it, but… well, it was a new experience if nothing else--and considering all of the  _ new experiences _ that he’d been through ever since arriving in Inaba, it was a fairly normal and harmless one, comparatively speaking. Besides, he could just think of this as practice for drama club, in case they actually ended up putting on a performance at some point before the end of the school year.

In any case, once he was finished changing, all that was left was to check on Nanako and wait for Yosuke and Teddie to arrive, and then the group of four would set out on their trick or treating excursion.

* * *

“Naaaaana-chaaaan~!”

Nanako giggled happily as Teddie rushed over to her and spun her around in a hug, hugging him back with just as much exuberance while Souji and Yosuke shared an amused glance over their heads.

Souji honestly wasn’t entirely sure what Teddie’s outfit was supposed to be: between the puffy red pants, the bright plastic-gold crown, and the blue cape, Souji’s first guess was some sort of prince, but then there was the shirt that looked to be part of a hero costume, and the purple gloves with little fake claws on the fingers, and the comically-huge shoes….

“Bargain bin,” Yosuke explained, answering Souji’s unspoken question with a mixture of wry amusement and exasperation. “I  _ told _ him to just pick out a pre-packaged outfit, but he insisted that he wanted his costume to be  _ unique _ . At least it was better than his first choice, though.”

Souji raised an eyebrow. “Dare I ask what his first choice was?”

“Let’s just say I have  _ no _ idea how he managed to find a jack o’ lantern the size of his bear suit’s head.”

Souji could very easily imagine the chaos that would have ensued had a bear suit with a pumpkin for a head gone running around the town. It certainly would have made for an interesting evening, if nothing else, though not entirely in the way Souji was currently looking forward to.

“Good job talking him out of it, then,” Souji replied with a quiet chuckle. “At least this costume is less….”

“Nightmare-inducing?” Yosuke replied dryly.

Souji’s lips twitched as he repressed the urge to laugh from Yosuke’s blunt response. “I was going to say unsettling.”

“Sensei~!!”

Souji and Yosuke were pulled from their conversation by the bear in question, who had turned his focus away from Nanako and over to him with a look of pure excitement.

“Sensei, are we leaving now? Can we go play tricks and get treats?”

Nanako giggled. “Silly Teddie, you only play tricks if they don’t give you treats!”

“Ooh, I see~ Nana-chan is so smart!”

Souji’s expression softened as he looked between the two of them, and he reached out to place a hand on both of their heads with a smile as he replied, “If you two are ready to go, then we can head out.”

Those were apparently the magic words, since it took all of two seconds for them to start rushing off of the Dojima property and towards the first house they could see--but thankfully Yosuke was faster, enough so that he could step in their path to stop them before they got too far.

“Woah, hey! What’s the rush, you two? The candy’s not going anywhere, I promise,” he teased lightly. He reached into the bag on his arm as he added, “Besides, your arms are gonna get real tired from carrying everything if you don’t have anything to put all your candy in, right?”

With that said, he pulled out two plastic jack o’ lantern buckets and handed one to each of them, smiling as he saw their faces light up in response.

“Wow, thanks Yosuke!” “Thank you, Yosuke-nii!”

Souji approached Yosuke’s side with a soft smile as he quietly said, “Thank you. I didn’t even think about that, honestly.”

Of course, Yosuke was already pleased just from Teddie and Nanako’s innocently exuberant expressions of gratitude, but nothing beat getting a heartfelt  _ thank you _ from his partner--and even as Yosuke’s cheeks blushed a bright red, he still managed a teasing wink as he replied, “Don’t thank me just yet, partner. I didn’t give you yours yet.”

“Mine--?” Souji blinked, surprise and confusion quickly shifting to embarrassment when Yosuke pulled out another jack o’ lantern bucket and handed it to him. “Yosuke, I’m not going to--”

“Partner, trust me: you’re in a costume, and you’re the most popular guy in town. There’s no way you’re going home empty-handed,” Yosuke replied dryly.

Souji frowned. “You’re in a costume too, so where’s  _ your _ bucket?”

Yosuke shrugged and laughed sheepishly. “Four of those were a bit too much for one bag, so I just figured I’d use the bag instead of a bucket--but I told you already, I’m not expecting to get much candy to begin with.”

Though Souji still wasn’t too pleased (and still felt a bit embarrassed holding a plastic bucket like the two younger children in the group, his parents’ voices berating him in the back of his mind for partaking in such a juvenile activity when there were more productive things that he could be doing), he let the matter drop for the time being as he saw Teddie and Nanako rushing off ahead of them once more, apparently too eager to wait now that they were ready to go around town collecting candy.

As Souji and Yosuke began walking, to catch up with Teddie and Nanako, Souji was surprised and confused to catch Yosuke watching him out of the corner of his eye.

“Is something wrong?”

“Huh?” Yosuke blinked, apparently not having realized what he was doing, before blushing lightly as his unconscious action belatedly caught up with him. “Oh, no, I just-- I was just thinking that I did a pretty good job picking out that costume.” Teasingly, he grinned and added, “I thought it was going to look ridiculous, but you somehow managed to make it work.”

Souji rolled his eyes. “Thanks,” he replied dryly, giving Yosuke’s costume--a werewolf outfit that looked fairly intricate, face paint and all, for someone who supposedly was only joining them to keep Souji company--a once-over before adding, “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

Yosuke’s blush darkened, clearly caught off-guard by the response. “I, uh-- th-thanks, I guess.”

When Teddie and Nanako called for Souji and Yosuke to catch up, Yosuke was more than happy to acquiesce as he rushed the rest of the way over to them with Souji in tow, who couldn't help but smile as he saw a light hint of pleased embarrassment still lingering in Yosuke's expression even as they came to a stop on the porch of the first house in the area. Of course, Nanako and Teddie were already one step ahead of them, and the two teens found it hard to stop themselves from smiling in endearment as they watched Nanako instruct Teddie on how to “properly” trick or treat.

“First, you’ve gotta ring the doorbell, and then someone’ll come out. Then you say ‘ _ Trick or Treat! _ ’ and they give you candy! Oh, and then you’ve gotta make sure to be polite and say thank you,” Nanako declared, smiling as Teddie nodded along with her instructions before stepping forward to press the doorbell.

As soon as the door opened and a middle-aged woman stepped out, Nanako and Teddie chimed a cheerful “ _ Trick or Treat! _ ” in unison--and even the most hardened of people would have most likely melted in the face of the two matching innocent, blinding smiles, so it was no surprise to see the woman cooing over them as she put candy into each of their buckets while they each thanked her.

“How precious, going trick or treating with your big brothers,” she said with a soft laugh as her gaze shifted up to the two teens in question, both of which looked caught off-guard and a bit flustered--Souji from the sudden attention in general, and Yosuke from being called Teddie’s  _ big brother _ so casually.

“Yeah, Big Bro and Yosuke-nii are the best!” Nanako agreed, while Teddie nodded enthusiastically, nearly dislodging the crown off of his head in the process.

The woman seemed amused, both by the younger kids’ enthusiasm and the older kids’ bashfulness, as she beckoned them both forward. “What are you boys hanging around back there for? Come here.”

“Ma’am, you don’t have to--”

She put some candy into Souji’s bucket and Yosuke’s bag--without even sparing a glance at the Junes logo on the outside, to both Yosuke’s surprise and relief--as she waved off Souji’s weak protests. “Nonsense, it’s Halloween! You kids enjoy--and stay safe, okay?”

“Thank you, ma’am, we will,” Yosuke replied, hardly even able to get the words out before Nanako and Teddie were already rushing off ahead of them. “Wh-- hold on, slow down you two! I thought we told you not to run ahead like that!”

Yosuke rushed off after them, and Souji gave the woman a quick bow in thanks before taking off to go catch up with his partner, who was trailing just behind Teddie and Nanako after catching up with them with an expression of fond exasperation on his face.

“I hope they’re not going to have this much energy all night,” Yosuke commented wryly, once Souji was walking alongside him. “I don’t know if I can keep up.”

Souji chuckled. “Considering everything we do in the TV world, I’m pretty sure we can keep up with those two for one night.”

“Here’s hoping, otherwise it’s gonna be a  _ long _ night,” Yosuke replied with a weak laugh.

When Yosuke’s laughter quickly trailed off into silence, Souji immediately knew that something was on his partner’s mind--and it wasn’t hard to guess what, given the previous conversation.

“Still thinking about what she said?”

Yosuke jumped slightly and flushed, his expression turning a mixture of guilty and embarrassed as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and murmured, “I guess I kinda… wasn’t expecting anyone to ever look at me and call me a big brother--I mean, if anyone here’s a  ‘big bro’ it’s you, not me. It just caught me off-guard a bit.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you’re a great big brother to Teddie,” Souji replied, lightly bumping his shoulder against Yosuke’s. “You’re doing a great job of looking after him and helping him adjust.”

Yosuke cracked a small smile as he glanced at Souji out of the corner of his eye, still feeling too embarrassed to properly meet the earnest gaze that he could feel watching him. “Coming from the ‘world’s best big bro’? I’d say that’s worth a lot; thanks.”

Souji gave him a smile in return, but anything else he wanted to say faded away as his focus shifted over to Nanako, who was running up to the door of the next house alongside Teddie, the two of them playfully racing to see who could ring the bell first.

Maybe Yosuke was right about those two having way more energy than they could keep up with--but at least running around after them would make for an entertaining evening, if nothing else.

* * *

In the end, it was indeed a fun and entertaining evening: Nanako and Teddie ran from house to house and--once they reached the shopping district--from store to store, collecting candy left and right. Not only did they receive a large bucketload of candy each, but Souji--as Yosuke had teasingly predicted--ended up receiving his fair share of candy from plenty of familiar faces around town, most of which claimed that the candy was a little extra thanks for all the help that Souji gave to them, much to Yosuke’s amusement and Souji’s embarrassment.

Of course, the tables were flipped whenever Yosuke was blindsided by the locals offering him candy as well, leaving Yosuke in stunned surprise and Souji with a smile on his face that was both pleased and relieved. The last thing he wanted was for his partner to feel excluded, even if he claimed he wasn’t coming along with them for the candy.

By the time they reached Junes, Nanako and Teddie’s seemingly-limitless energy finally hit empty, and Nanako remained awake through sheer stubbornness so she could see the entirety of Junes in its Halloween-decorated glory before finally giving in to her body’s need for rest, leaving Teddie to carry her bucket and Yosuke to carry Souji’s bucket so that Souji could carry a peacefully-sleeping Nanako for the walk back home.

“Yosukeeee, I’m tiiiirrrreeedd….”

Yosuke rolled his eyes, completely unfazed by Teddie’s half-asleep whining. “Well, I  _ told _ you not to go running around like that,” he chided, though his words carried much less bite when he was letting Teddie lean against him as they walked alongside Souji.

“Did you have fun, though?” Souji asked Teddie, before he could respond to Yosuke’s admonishment.

As Souji had hoped, Teddie immediately brightened up, even if he didn’t have nearly as much energy behind his expression as he did at the beginning of the night.

“Mmhmm! Trick or treating is great! There’s so many fun things to do on this side,” Teddie replied, turning his gaze from Souji to Yosuke as he added, “Thank you.”

Yosuke rolled his eyes, though it was clear from the smile tugging at the corners of his lips that he was more pleased by Teddie’s response than he was trying to let on. “You must really be tired if you’re actually  _ thanking _ me, huh?” he teased, shifting Souji’s bucket of candy into the hand holding his bag so he could reach out and ruffle Teddie’s hair, and laughing as Teddie whined and tiredly swatted his hand away in response.

Souji watched the two of them with a small smile, pleased to see them getting along in their own way, and he waited until they quieted down before meeting Yosuke’s gaze and speaking up.

“I wanted to thank you too, Yosuke.”

Yosuke blinked in surprise, feeling more than just a little flustered from the gentle, sincere gratitude in Souji’s gaze. “For what?”

“For convincing me to take Nanako trick or treating tonight, for convincing me to dress up and even getting me a costume to wear, for bringing Teddie along so he and Nanako could have a good time, for giving me an opportunity to experience something that I never got the chance to as a child… this night wouldn’t have gone nearly as perfect as it did without you, partner, so thank you.”

Unwilling to risk accidentally waking Nanako by moving too much, or jostling the half-asleep Teddie leaning against Yosuke’s side and blearily following Yosuke step by step, Souji settled for moving closer to Yosuke as he spoke--and he was pleasantly surprised when Yosuke met him halfway, leaning the slightest bit against him in response despite the clear embarrassment that colored his face a bright red.

“That’s… I mean, I really doubt that it wouldn’t have gone perfect without me or anything, but… thanks-- or, well, I mean, you’re welcome?”

Souji chuckled softly, lightly leaning against Yosuke’s side in return in lieu of a response as they continued to leisurely walk back home.

Surrounded by the people he loved, after a fun night of smiles and laughter… this really was the most enjoyable Halloween that Souji had ever had the pleasure of experiencing--and no matter what Yosuke said, Souji knew in his heart that it wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable or as memorable without his partner by his side to share in the memory with him.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if the ending seems rushed, I stayed up until like 3:30 in the morning writing the last half of the fic in one sitting because I haven't had much time to write recently and I wanted to make sure I finished in time lmao;;; I hope it was an enjoyable enough read regardless, though! ;u;


End file.
